As part of the Nashville Predators' community outreach, forwards Kiefer Sherwood and Tommy Novak traveled to the Tennessee School for the Blind to learn about and compete in the sport of goalball.
What is goalball, you ask?
"It was kind of a mixture of soccer, hockey, and dodgeball almost," Sherwood explained.
Goalball originated back in the 1940s as a rehabilitative sport for visually impaired World War 2 veterans but has since grown into a Paralympic sport with over 81 countries competing. It continues to gain popularity across the United States... and now with Sherwood and Novak.
Teams have three players guarding their respective goals at each end of a 59 foot by 30 foot court. The three players - a center and two wingers - both attack and defend with a special ball that has noise bells in it. Players in goalball orient themselves with taped twine on the court marking positions, and each player is required to wear eyeshades regardless of their degree of visual impairment. The object is to roll or throw the ball past the defenders and into the net to score a point.
Sounds easy, right?
"It was hard. It was really hard," Tommy Novak said.
"It's pretty humbling," Kiefer Sherwood confessed.
"Most sports that are more known are all relying on vision, so when you take that away, you're making up with all your other senses," Sherwood said. "For this one it was all feel and hearing, and it was pretty tough because you take it away and we're like a fish out of water almost."
"The biggest challenge is hearing the ball," Novak said. "They seem to be a lot better at it than us."
For two professional athletes, even a pick up game of goalball brought out Sherwood and Novak's competitive side.
"I wanted to be good for sure," Novak said. He was also quick to point out that Sherwood took a ball to the face.
"I'm glad that didn't happen to me," Novak added.
"He [Tommy] was pretty good," Sherwood admitted when I asked who showed more promise at the sport.
"I got smoked in the face once. I don't think he has any battle wounds so that's my claim to fame on that one."
Learning a new sport and playing against goalball athletes at the Tennessee School for the Blind was a fun experience for both Novak and Sherwood who appreciate the competition and fun of the sport.
"It was really fun. It was fun to see all the kids having fun," Novak said.
Sherwood doesn't think this is the last he'll see or hear of goalball.
"I've got to think it's going to start gaining some popularity because I think it's a sport a lot of people can play," he said.
It's true. Universities are starting to add goalball to their intramural offerings and not just for students with visual impairments. The game has a broader appeal because it can be played at an intramural level by students from all types of athletic backgrounds.
While Novak and Sherwood will return to their sport of choice tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs, they appreciate the time they got to spend learning a new sport and building relationships with the athletes and students at the Tennessee School for the Blind.
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